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Sunday, November 28, 2010

Before It Snows, Late Fall... & Merwin Poem

I doubt my photos stand out from the rest I see hurled up on the internet, but here they are. Ringing endorsement? Apathy? No. The garden is beautiful right now. If this lineup of brown looks monotone to you, click on and expand the images. You know what I'm talking about. The birds have been feasting. They know. But I'm ready for snow, excited to see what the plants do to it, and what it does to them--the highlighting, the sculpting, the reflection of one on the other.

Aster laevis seed, which I
promptly shook off in the breeze

Creepy coneflower seed

'Prairie Fire' Crabapple

Black-Eyed Susan Ruby Something or Other

Ahh sweet texture

Dew Light -- W.S. Merwin

Now in the blessed days of more and less
when the news about time is that each day
there is less of it I know none of that
as I walk out through the early garden
only the day and I are here with no
before or after and the dew looks up
without a number or a present age

Rabbits ate the right side of the sumac last
winter, will they balance it out this winter?

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Amsonia hubrichtii

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Lysimachia 'Firecracker' in foreground, bright orange,
with a divine shaft of light shafting the fall garden.

Allan--Thanks. It would be interesting if a person somewhere shows a specific plant(s) in every season. That would be a helpful and neat database. EE--Unfortunately, all that dew is frezing this time of year.M--I'm ready for white! Bring it on!

I love these textured, muted fall photos of your garden. I love too that it is a feast for birds. I tried to find your book. . . maybe you know a secret? Having trouble. The link did not work and my local bookstore cannot get it? I was hoping you had a ton of copies so you could make more than just the royalty. I could send a check and then you might send an autographed copy?? Your garden and your writing are exceptional . . . why are we always our own worst critics!?

Carol--I run across far too many people who aren't self critical enough; and by that I mean they settle, don't try, set their sights far too low. Artists should always be self critical and shooting for the moon, esp on later drafts / artworks. As for the book, don't know why a bookstore couldn't order it for you--that's odd. Anyway, email your address to enfrancaisATatt.net, and we'll exchange info so I can get it sent to you. Thank you!!

Ah the perfect description of the state of mind that a garden can allow you to enter (if you're willing): "only the day and I are here with no / before or after". I'd be happy to sit with an eternal present of the earthy browns in your photos. Still, it's exciting to look forward to the upcoming eternal present of brilliant white.

James--I've been having dreams about snow and what it will look like in my maturing garden. Is that sick? It's cold outside, in the teens at night, so it might as well get to the season so I can start dreaming about spring.Susan--More Merwin. Yes ma'am. I teach him in mym poetry classes, and to my great surprise, the students respond well to him (no punctuation and all).

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